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(No Model.) v 2` Skeeter-Sheet .1. J. B. G. A. GANBT. I TORPEDO LAUNCHING APPARATUS.

No. 474,291: -Patented ay 3, 1892.

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(No Model.) 2 sneeus-sheetz J..B. G. A. OANET.- TORPBDO Y'LAUNGHING APPARATUS.

Pate'n ted May .3, 1892.4

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JEAN BAP'rrs-'TE eUs'rAvn AnoLPHE 'cnnnfnvor. PARIs, FRANOE, ASSIGN OR or oNE-H'ALF To 'run. sin JosnPH Wnrrwonrna COMPANY, LIMITED,

OF OPENSHA'W, ENGLAND.

ToRPsno-tAuNfc-use .'APPARATus..

SPECIFICATION forming partof LettersPatent No. 474,291, dated May 3,-1892; Application filed June 9, 1891. Serial No: 395,658. (No 1ndel. I Patentel in France October 8, 1883, No. 157,914. i

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I J EAN BAPTISTE GUsTAvE ADOLPHE CANET, engineer, a citizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Inprovements in Firing Mechanism for Torpedo-Launching Apparatus and other Purposes, (for which I have obtained a patentin the following country: in Fi-ance,certificate of bination or arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

- elevation, and Fig. 3 avertical longitudin'al central section, illustratin'g one forin of 'niy' improved gun or torpedo-tube. Fig. 4' isa side elevatifon 'showing another fornror nodifl is a Sectionalv fication of' my invention. Fig. 5

'rear elevation showing details of. construc- 3o tion, and Fig. 6 is a Sectional view illustrating furtheidetailsv of construction. 4-

. with spiral? projectious or interrupted screwthreads. i

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 ,a 'c f are lei-- vers fi'xediupon a shaft a2, carried in suitable 40 bearings attached to the tube A;

b is a spring, der b', pivoted at b2. to vthe tube A Jided with a piston b?, coupled to theleverj a. This spring bearsat oneend against the saidpiston and at. its other end against the rearend of the said cylinder.v

'c is a catcligiwhich .is pivoted. atcftojhe and pro- .tubeA and is provided with along armor:

;o lever e2 to facilitate its operation. .This catch included in my purposes; and it consists. zo 111 the features of construction andthe'iconl-i therod of which is! isadaptedto 'engage with a stud or projection a,3 on the lever a when the said lever a is moved backward and the spring b is icompressed. The 'shaft a? is provided with a socket ai, adapted to receive a bar or.;hands'pike, Wliereby the said shaft may beturned 'by hand to move back the lever coinpress the spring b until the projectiodasgengages with the catch c. l'

d is a safetyor locking pin ,Whic h-is passed '50 through a hole in` the lever a audintoa corresponding hole in the catch-; The lever a' is designed toop'eratethe fir-ingn'echanism, 'which' comprises a fi'ing-hamnere, pivoted`-- 'at 'e1' toa slidepiecef, working in'jafgroove in the' breach-screw B. Thisl slide-piece f'isarranged to bemoved u-pward by the lever a' to fire the gun when-the said lever is released 'andfis' 'actuatcd by the spring b. fThe hain;

adapted to move upon inclined planes g when' ;the slide-.piece f is raised,-an d thus. cock the Figure l is a side elevation, Fig. 2 'a' rear-- said hammez' The shortarm e3` of the hammerisjprovided with an anti-frietion roller,

hammerjis cockedcompresses a spring h', arranged in a casing h?, formed on or attached i tothe said slide-piece f. Therefore 'as soonV as th'estuds or projectionse-2 h'ave'in the upjwardmovement of the sli'dapiece f passed .So

:thejupper e ud'of thelinclined surfaees g 'the A is the ftnbe or barrel of the guu, vvhich-is to be mounted' upon a suitable fcarriage, and* the breech'hendpfivhich is closed bymeans- 35 of a breach-plug or'breech-screw B,';forned .hammer Will beactuated by the said vspring *'hQja/nd thus'caused to fire the gu'n.- Toprovide-;for disen-gagin g the catch c from the leveia by'fthev aid of electricity I attach to the side of the tube Aan electro-magnetj, having an'oscilliating armaturej' of soft iron arranged inproper relation to the polos of the lIii'agnet land held. away from the said poles by a suitablespri`ng.. Thisarnaturejs provided which is inclosed in a cylinwith a shoulder j?, `whichisadapted to engage withth'e 'long. arm of-;a loelheraiI;v lever k, pivoted at k' to the tubejA; 'I `h ,e other arm ofthe said leverfk iscoupledfibya connecting -.`rocl orlink Z to the a'in'czofthe catch or sear' fc; A small spiral' orotherfspringm, attachedA thejshort 'ar the 1 verqkeepsthe end/of i fat ollflfind to .the tube A and'tits 'other end to,

An erfe ;isprovided with` studs e2, which are 7'oI which bearsagainst a piston h, and when the 7 5 v shoulder until releasedby the'acti'on' ofthe/too magnet.- When 'the electric circuit in which the maguetj is included is closed, the armature j' is drawn toward the said magnet, thereby' releasing the long arm of the lever 7.; .from ,the said shoulder j 2. The spring m by acting upon the other arm ofthe lever k then 'i pushes backward the 'arm 02 of the catch or -sar c through the medium of the connectingfod I, (the safety-pin d having been previously jremoved,) and thus disengages the said catch and permits the discharge of the gun in the manner hereinbefore explained under'the action of the spring b, which in this arrange- 'ment consists of 'a set of so-called Belleville g'jdisksff i i The ,of the tube A by a hinge-joint B2, about ,which it can swing tc open.and closethe ang b-eech.l The said breech-plugis formed with The said nut Iniis provided with a circular or segmenta'l rack' ,n', with which is geared a pinion p, fixed on' a short shaftp', fitted to ro- I ,tate in suitable bearings on the tube A. On ;o this shaft p' isalso fixed a crank-handle p? for operating it. By means of the said novable nut 'n the breech-plug B can be pressed tightly'against the rear surface of. the breech, awasherorpacking-'rin'g Baof asbestus orother .35, gsnitable material being preferably arranged between these parts toinsure'tightness-of the vjoint. The operating-crank 192 when it has `be`en turned to release the breech-'plug rests against'a stopq on the nut n, thus insuring go; the' retention 'of the said nut in such' a position .during the' opening and closing of the hreech that the interrupted screw-threads of the breech-plug w ill, when the latter is swung `fupon its hinge to close the breech, enter the Isegmental groovesor slots in the said nut, so that.the turning olf the latter will lock the said plug in the tube'A.

To prevent premature action of the firing mechanism, I provide 'a safety device consist- 5'q' ing of a strip or piece n2, forming part of or attached to the breech-nut n, and so situated vthereon'V that as long as the breech is not properly closed-thisstrip or piece projects into the path of the lever a', as shown more ,ssjplearly in Fiss. 1 and 2,vand prevents the aci 'ton of the said lever upon the slide-piece f vcarrying the firing-ham-mer.

A The lever k is connected to the rod Zby means of a pin k2 on the said lever adapted ejt work-in a slot Z' in the said rod Z. so as to 4 allow a certain amount of play, and thus permit the discharge to be effected by hand, if desired, Without the aid of the electric device and without disturbing this device.

' To more ef'cctually provide for holding the 'tol-pedo steady -iu-thc'tube A, and to prevent the idisplacemeht of its-rudder by any notion ibreech-plug B is formed with extensons'B' and is connected to the breech' end' of the vessel on which the said tube is einployed, stop-bolts or catches s s', Fig. 3, are in some instances provided, whereby the tor- 'pedo will be held from above and below.

These stop bolt-s or catches are fitted to slide 4u p and down in sockets 52 and are arranged to be simultaneously operated by the reaction of the springb through the medium of the following mechanism-that is 'to say, crank-levers tare pivoted at t' to the sockets 32, and are connected with each other by a rod u, carried in abearing o, fixed upon the side of the tube A. A lever as, fixedi upon the shaft a?,

vhas-at its forward ex'tremity a grooved antif riction roller as, which bears against the long `arin of the lower lever t. The said lever as, le-

vers t, and rod u ltherefore form 'the medium through which the stop bolts or catches s s' are operated by the spring i), to withdraw them and release the torpedo previous to. its discharge. A spring 33 is arranged in the lower socket 32 for tle'purpose' of efiecting the return movement of the said stop bolts or catches s s'.

In the form or modification of my invention shownnin Fig. it there is a spiral spring b, which is attached at one end to the tube A and at its otherend to the upper .arm of the, lever a. The lower arm of tlesaid lever a is connected'by a lin'k'w with the lever t, for the purpose of withdrawing the stop-bolt orretaining-catch, which holds the torpedo in place in the tubeA. This connection is eifected v by meansot'. a pin tz, fiXed in the lever tand extending through a slot kw' in the link w, so that the said ylever tcan bia-operated by hand to release the torpedo.

To facilitate the opening andclosing; of the breech, I sometimes arrange thelbreech-screw B in a bracket or carrier 134,' Fig. 6, hinged or -pivot-ed in the usual manner to the breech end of the gun, andl provide the said breechscrew with a Circularorsegmentalrack n', Fig; 4, with which is geared a pinion p, arranged to rotate upon a short shaft or stud 19', fixed in a lng A' on the launching-tube A and to be actuated by a crank-handle pz. The extreme positions ot' the said crank-handle which correspond with the positions of the breech-screw when locked and unlocked, are accurately de-.

termined by a stopps onthe said shaft or stud 19', 5, thus insuring the re-engagement of the teeth of the pinion with those of the IIZO rack without difficulty after the breech-screw o B an d carrier 134, have been swung upon the hinge B2 to open the bree`ch. i

To fix the breech-plug B in its supporting bracket or carrier Bitso that it cannot turn about its axis When the breech is open, I employ the automatic device shown in horizontal section in Fig. 6, in which 'y is a spring-catch connected to a lever y', pivoted at '3/2 to the bracket or carrier 134. The free extremity of the said lever y'. is provided with a small roller yg, bearing against a cam upon the hinge-joint liz. As the said bracket or carrier is 'swug `upon its hingeto open the .contact with the breech Wil o -hinge-to close the breech, th

ism, of a spring- 2d breech, this roller, moving upon the inclined Surface of the can 155, permits'the catch y to enter a circular hole provided in the b-reechplug, thus locking th Asthe bracket or carrier B* is swungupon its e'catch ly is antomaticallydisengaged bythe cam 1315 and lever y', so that theJbreech-plug When it arrives in l be free to turn on its axis. Thus the exact c orrespondence of the interruptedwith regard to the ofthe breech is'i i'ng theopening' nsured and maintained durand closing-'of the breech, so thatthese operations can. be performedwithout trouble and without loss of time.

I`'NV-hat I claim i s7- l. The combination,wi'th the tiring mechanactuatedlever for operating the same, a .s pring-actuated retaining-catch for the said. lever, and an Velectro-n'agnet the armature ofl which' is adapted'to lock andunlock the said retaining-catch, substantially as described. t i

' 2. Theco mbination, with the firing mechanism, of a spring-actuated levenfor operating the same, a retaining-catch for the said lever, a springactnated lever for operating the said retaining-catch, and an electro-magnet the arniature of which is adapted to lock and unlock the last-named lever, substantially as described 3. The conbination,wit h the tiring mechane two parts togethen' threads. of the breech-plug interrupted female threads ism, of' a spring-actuated lever for operating the same, a retaining-catch for the said iever, a spring-'actuated lever for operating the said' catch and connected therewith bya pin-andslot connection, and an electro-magnet .the

lock the last-named leyer, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified. 4:: The com'bina'tion,'with the lever cal and its actuatings adapted to engage ,withth'e said lover, the bent lever k, connected with .thesaid catch, the electro-magnet i,-provided with the arm-aturejfladapted to engage with'the said b'ent le-ver, and the spring' m, connected with the said bent level-, substan purposes set for-th. f 5. The combination, with the torpedo-t-ubo andthe level` for operating. the firing mech-- anisn, of astp-bolt for retaiuing the torpedo 'in `place inthe said .tube,*and intermediate' connections-between the saidlever and stop- 'bolt-,where'by the said bolt'will be disenga'ged or withdrawn-in the operation of the' firing mechanism, fo,` the purposes above 'specified. In testimonywhereof I'have hereunto signed n'ynane in the 'presence' of two subscribng witnesses. f.

.JEAN ininsrn'eusrivn ADOLPHE cmmn- Witnesses: 1

' RoBT. M. I-IoorER,`

tially as and for the f A 5d.

armature of which is adapted, to 'lock and 'urv pring b, of the'catch or' scar c, 

